Paper Memories

I'm Moving!

2011-08-01T18:11:00.001-05:00

For those of you that are family and friends I better clarify that statement. My BLOG is moving. My blog is moving to Paper Memories 4 U. I'll leave this blog up til the end of August, hopefully that will give everyone plenty of time to go over there and become a follower and be entered into the giveaway. (see below for more info)

Just a little info on way I'm moving my blog. When I first started my blog I knew NOTHING about blogging. I didn't realize the email you choose to use when setting up your blog would be the link to your blog. I had a Yahoo email for a scrapbooking business that I was selling for at the time. But sadly Xyron decided to close their home based business side of there business and I Remember When closed.

But my blog was still linked to that email account and I didn't know how to change things to a new blog. I'm a slow learner when it comes to computer related stuff. So it's taken me about a year and a half to figure it out. I've tried many many times but couldn't get it figured out. And then life gets in the way and it doesn't seem that important. But this summer I've really felt like I wanted to get this figured out and by golly I was going to learn something new. YAY!! I did it.

So hopefully you will go to my new blog at Paper Memories 4U and follow me there. I've imported almost everything from this blog except the followers. So if you want to follow me there thats great. Especially since there will be a great giveaway for all of my followers.

When I hit 200 followers on my new blog and you have each left a comment on this same post at the new blog, telling me your a follower I will giveaway a brand new CINDY LOO cartridge.

Happy Scrapping, Dana

Summer 2011

2011-07-28T21:01:00.002-05:00

We had a wonderful week on the beach for vacation last week. We love the beach and just spending time relaxing. The house we rent is by the best beach. It's not crowded or busy. There's lots of room to just watch the waves and relax. Erica and I read alot and they guys just walked up and down the beach looking for shells. We usually find lots of shells but this year there wasn't very many.

Tyler surprised us one day by shaving his head. He wanted his head to get tanned before we left. The day we took pictures it was still pretty white. But after a day of golfing and being on the beach it was nice and red by the time we left.

This is the beautiful sight we had every evening. The sunset reflecting off the water was awe inspiring. I thanked the Lord each day for this wonderful sight. It soothes my soul of so many things I haven't released to him. I feel closer to
Him at the beach than any where else.

Praying you all have
a great summer.

Cricut Embossing folders and a new stamp

2011-07-12T20:24:00.005-05:00

I was going thru pictures and realized I hadn't shared the new embossing folders I bought a while back. I was so excited to get them. The first one is the Cricut bug head. He's so very cute embossed on green paper.

I'm loving the Cricut Circle folders. I think this is my favorite! All the little Cricut Circles in different shapes. It's probably the most versatile too.

But the big Cricut Circle is fun too. Now to find time to work on projects that I can use them with.

This is my newest stamp and I dearly LOVE it!! I ordered it from Lisa at Stampin Out Online

It's a great crisp image and I've used it on all of my cards and projects. Lisa has lots of designs to choose from and can personalize it.

Hope you all are having a crafty week. Dana

A Sweet Blog Award

2011-07-07T11:52:00.003-05:00

Thank You to Jenn at Scrap-a-tude for such a sweet award.

The rules of the award are to thank the person who gave it to you, tell 7 things about yourself, and then pass it on to 8 others.

Here are 7 things about me:
1. I'm the Primary Caretaker for my Dad who is disabled.
2. I LOVE my new Cricut E2
3. I'm very blessed to have my own scrapbook room
4. We have a porch swing on our front porch and my DH and I swing almost EVERY night. :))
5.Our 2 adult children still vacation with us every year and we LOVE it. They are really great people that I would pick as friends even if they weren't my kids.
6. We have a black lab that thinks she's a fruffy chick dog.
7. I really hate to clean my house but I clean houses for a living.

And now for the bloggers I pass this award on to. They are in no order and all are great blogs.

1. Bug Bites

2. Cricut Croppin with Cassandra

3. Flair and Frills

4.Scrap Obsessed

5. Daily Grace Creations

Our holiday weekend

2011-07-05T14:56:00.009-05:00

Nothing crafty today. I did get to work for about a half hour in my scrap room Monday afternoon but not enough time to finish anything. So I'll share what we did most of the weekend.
This is in our back/side yard. I forgot to take before pictures so this was taken at Easter. We have been landscaping under the tree. You can see a small portion of it here, minus the Easter eggs and my nephew.
My DH and I have a great little arrangement when it comes to yard work. I come up with the ideas and plans and he does the hard labor. Yup, he's that sweet!!

I LOVE porch swings, and we have one on our front porch. You can see it at the end of the porch. We love sitting out there in the evening after the yard work is done for the night. The way it's situated we almost always have a great breeze blowing thru.

We really wanted to do something with the area under the tree because grass wouldn't grow and it just looked bad. I've always wanted a tree swing. So we thought about hanging a piece of board and making an old fashioned tree swing. But we really like our time in the evening just talking about our day and catching up with one another. So I decided a regular swing would be great. DH found this swing on Ebay and the price was right.

I think it works perfect under the tree. We laid some patio pavers leading up to the swing and with some plantings and a swing cushion I think it just calls your name to come and sit a spell. Grab a glass of something cool and refreshing and look around a bit.

Enjoy the little things in life! Dana

Winner of Baking Blog Hop

2011-06-29T19:54:00.003-05:00

Today I used Random Number Generator and it picked the winner. I still can't seem to get the number generator to post on here so please believe me it picked:

Number 28
and our number 28 winner is : - BARBARA

Barbara said...

What a sweetheart you are to remember you husband. Good idea to keep him happy then you can be happy and scrap. I too feel a tad bit guilty when I want to craft when there is always so much other "things" to do!! However, I feel so much better when I take time for me too. Thank you for these easy recipes I want to try both of them. thanks you sharing. thanks also for offering your blog candy. I love using twine on projects. I am proud follower 133 of your darling blog. Three is my lucky number so I am crossing my fingers. Hugs.

Barbara- please email me at papermemories4u@yahoo.com with your mailing address and I'll get your prize pack right out to you.

Thank you to everyone that participated in the blog hop and all those that "hopped" along with us.

Happy Scrapping Dana

Cricut Decals card with E2

2011-06-27T23:01:00.003-05:00

I was looking thru pictures and realized I hadn't posted the first card I made with the new E2.
I first cut the card base from the Wild Card cartridge at 10".
The girl with purse was cut from the Cricut Decals cartridge that is preloaded on the E2. She's cut at 3".
I'm finding the E2 really easy to use. Before I got it I had watched a few videos so I could open the box and dive right in. I'm not one to read directions.
The sentiment is from My Pink Stamper's "Everyday Life" stamp set.

Baking Blog Hop

2011-06-24T16:40:00.008-05:00

Welcome to the Baking Blog Hop. You should have come here from Jen's Craft Corner. If you happened across our blog hop you can start at Baking Up Crafts. Everyone has great projects to share and I had so much fun making mine.

I saw this tool box on Sarah's blog -Pink Cricut- and I knew exactly how I wanted to use it. My husband is a VERY handy man and we never have to hire jobs out unless he's to busy to do them himself. But his favorite project right now is working on the 77 camaro he's restoring. It was the car he had when we started dating in 1981. The car had more problems than we realized which is usually the case with older cars. It has been a labor of love. When he has free time he works on it and when he works on his car that means I can craft undisturbed and not feel guilty for being in my scrap room and not in the yard or garden.

I used paper that looks like hammered metal. and covered all the tool box pieces.
I punched holes in the four corners and used brads that look like screws.
He loves his Makita tools so I used cardstock in the same colors as the tools.
The black band around the tool box is black cardstock I ran thru the Clock Works embossing folder because it looks like car gears.
The tools are cut from the Handy Man lite cartridge at 2 1/2". Because this will be used when he's working on his car I used tool images that he would use on his car.

I stamped "You Rev My Engine" which is in the Tool Time stamps from Pink By Design stamps. I LOVE Sarah's stamps.
The tool box handle is a wood dowel that I ran across the silver ink pad from ColorBox Cat Eye inks.I'm going to give this to my husband saturday when he gets home from work. He can spend the afternoon working on his car and have goodies right on his work bench. I made Carmelita Bars and Popcorn Caramel Crunch. I added a Snickers and some packs of peanuts. It gives him a little sweet and salty. If I keep refreshing his ice tea he'll be happy and I can scrapbook all afternoon.
( I'll add the recipe's at the end if you would like them)

I also have a little give away. Become a follower and leave a comment and I'll draw a winner June 29.

I hope you enjoyed the blog hop. Here's the line up if you've missed anyone.

Baking Up Crafts

Pink Cricut

Gilby's Craftster

Bug Bites

Joyful Stamper

Jen's Craft Corner

Paper Memories- You are Here

Have a Scrap Happy Day!
Dana

CARMELITA BARS

1 jar Butterscotch 1pkg. chocolate chips
2 cups flour 2 cups oatmeal
1 1/2 cups brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups butter 1 teaspoon baking soda

Combine flour, oatmeal, melted butter, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Grease 9x13 pan and put 2/3 mixture in greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 17 minutes. Sprinkle choc. chips and butterscotch sauce over the top, then crumble remaining mixture on top. Bake at 350 degrees for another 17 minutes. Let cool and serve.

POPCORN CARAMEL CRUNCH

4 cups popped popcorn 1 cup dry roasted peanuts
1 cup chowmein noodles 1/2 cup raisins
1 cup sugar 3/4cup butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup 2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In large grease bowl add popcorn, peanuts, chowmein noodles, raisins. Set aside. In large sauce pan combine sugar, butter, corn syrup and water. Cook over medium heat until mixture reaches soft crack stage with a candy thermometer. Stir occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in cinnamon. Pour over popcorn mixture and pour onto cookie sheet to cool. When cooled break into pieces and store in air tight container.

Baking Up Crafts blog hop

2011-06-21T14:32:00.002-05:00

I'm going to be a part of the Baking Up Crafts blog hop. Make sure you join us June 24.

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Happy Fathers Day!

2011-06-19T13:43:00.007-05:00

Happy Father's Day to my Sweet Husband Roger. He's been a wonderful father to our 2 kids and trys to be there for them whenever they need him. He's been a wonderful provider and a great husband. We really couldn't have been blessed with anyone better. We love you Roger and we're very proud of you!!

This is an older picture of me, my brother and our Dad. It was taken in 2005 I think. I have a very special and unique relationship with my Dad. He started going blind when I was in 6th grade. My parents divorced when I was very young and my Dad remarried. His second wife didn't stick around when my Dad found out he was going blind and when I was 12 I became his caretaker. I did his grocery shopping, laundry and cleaned his apartment. I tried to take care of him the best a 12 year old was capable of when their Dad is going thru a very difficult time in their lives and I didn't realize it at the time but he was going thru a deep depression. I just knew I wanted him to be happy again but didn't know how to make that happen. I'm so very thankful that time has healed his heart but it's not been so kind to his sight. He's blind but he tries to do as much by himself as possible. He's been a wonderful Dad and the best Grandpa to my kids that he knew how to be. I'm so very grateful for the time we've had together and our special relationship.
Happy Fathers Day to my very special Dad and to my wonderful husband. I hope they both have a great day. We Love You!

Little House Guests

2011-06-14T21:51:00.006-05:00

This week has been very busy but also lots of fun. We started last weekend with these cute as a button house guests.

Roger's niece Amanda asked us to have the kids at our house for a few days and we were so happy to have them for as long as we could. Lucas is as cute as can be and likes to give lots of loves. He's become my little monkey man.
Ellie is such a girly girl and so much fun. She's as smart as they come and loved playing "school" the Erica. Erica had been done teaching school for about a week so she was happy to play teacher for Ellie. They did worksheets everyday.
We went to the park and played in the wadding pool and spent lots of time on the swing on our front porch. The time went so fast. We can't wait until they can spend time here again.

After Lucas and Ellie left than Andrew came to stay with us the next day. Andrew is always so much fun. He spends alot of time at our house.
My brother Terry and his wife Stacy had a scheduled C section and Andrew got to spend 3 days with us. He was excited to welcome his little brother to our family.

Welcome to Cameron! He's a big boy and just about as cute as they come. He was welcomed by his 3 big brothers. Andrew is going to be a big helper to Mom and Dad.

I think thats it for house guests this summer. Hopefully I can get back to crafting next week.

Happy Crafting!
Dana

NEW WINNER

2011-06-09T14:40:00.002-05:00

I emailed the winner of the Memorial Day blog hop and she didn't respond. It's been a week so I picked a new winner.

SPARKSGAL you are the new winner!!!

Sparksgal said...: What a great looking card - TFS! I'm a new follower. :)

Jess (aka Sparksgal)
http://sparksgal-craft-place.blogspot.com/

Please contact me at papermemories4u@yahoo.com with your mailing info and I will get your Cricut cartridge right out to you. Out of fairness to everyone if I haven't received an email from Jess in 1 week I will pick another winner. :)

Have a great weekend!
Dana

Winner of Memorial Day blog hop

2011-06-02T17:08:00.003-05:00

Thank You Ladies for stopping by for the Memorial Day blog hop. I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. And a big Thank You to Michelle for hosting and bringing us all together for the blog hop.

Now on to the winner. I tried to post a picture of Random Generator but it's not working. The number it posted was:

NUMBER 27 - LADYBUGSTAMPER
ladybugstamper said...Very nice card. I am now a follower of your blog, you have a great blog. This is a great blog hop. Thanks

Congrats to Ladybugstamper- email me at papermemories4u@yahoo.com with your mailing address and I'll get that right out to you.

Guest Designer for Inking it up Crazy

2011-05-31T21:55:00.014-05:00

Good Thursday Morning and welcome to my "Guest Designer" post. Today I'm honored to be a guest designer for Kassidy at Inking it up Crazy. Happy Birthday Kassidy! It's her birthday this month and she's celebrating all month with wonderful giveaways. The theme for today is "My Pink Stamper" and Kassidy will be giving away a set of the stamps, so you'll want to make sure and stop by her blog also.

When I saw this stamp in the "Everyday Life" set from My Pink Stamper I knew I wanted to use it on this card. One of my very good friends loves tea and when I saw this teapot cut in the A Childs Year cartridge I knew the image and stamp would be perfect together.

The paper pack is from the K & Company Classic K Bailey collection. It's one of my favorites, I've used it on so many projects.

The teapot is cut at 10" using the tag image on page 67. To cut the lid of the teapot I used the "Icon" button and cut at 7".

The teacup is cut at 3 1/2" I cut it a second time in coordinating paper and cut the teacup and saucer apart and layered them.

I used Colorbox Cat's Eyes brown ink to ink all the edges.

The pearls on the teapot are from a Prima swirl that I cut apart and added to the bottom of the teacup and the lid of the teapot.

The teapot tag is cut at 1 1/2" and stamped with the "Thinking of You" stamp from Everyday Occasions from My Pink Stamper

The small teapot charm was covered in Glossy Accents and then matted with the polka dotted paper. It's tied to the brad with a small piece of cream sheer ribbon.

The ribbon is from my stock and the antique brad in the center of the bow is from Spare Parts by Paper Studio.

Inside the card I cut the mat at 2" and the cream mat at 2 1/4" and stamped "When I count my blessings I count you twice" from the "Everyday Life" set by My Pink Stamper.

Thank You Kassidy for having me as a guest designer today. I hope everyone enjoyed the card and tag.

Have a Scrap Happy Day!
Dana

Memorial Day Blog Hop

2011-05-27T23:42:00.005-05:00

Happy Memorial Day and Welcome to the Memorial Day Blog Hop! You should have arrived here from Jamie's blog. There are so many talented ladies in our blog hop today. You'll want to make sure you started at the beginning of the blog hop so you don't miss any of the fun. Michelle at Green Girl Scraps is the first stop on our blog hop so make sure you start there and see her great project.

Memorial Day is about remembering those who served our great country and my Grandpa and several Uncles, many cousins have served. My husbands family has also had many family members that have served and we have friends and church members that have fought for our country. We are very THANKFUL for all of them and even more thankful when they come home safely. Most recently my husbands cousin has arrived home safely to his wife and small children. Their sacrifices are never forgotten.

The card I made today is in recognition of all those who have served and sacrificed on our behalf. This isn't my normal type of card and at first I really didn't like it when I was putting it together, but now that it's done it's growing on me.

I really liked this card base from A Childs Year on page 42. I cut the card base in white but wanted the outline to be in red so I cut it again in red. If my Gypsy had been in my scraproom it would have been easier to do it on there. But when I cut it in red, I didn't need the whole card cut, I just needed the top so after the Cricut cut the top portion of the card I pushed the stop button so I didn't waste my red paper. I then cut the blue star paper at 5 1/2".

The boy and girl image was cut at 3 1/4" for the base and the top layer.

The banner at the top reminded me of the flag banners I hang on my front porch during Memorial Day. The banners were cut at 3/4"from the Independence Day seasonal cartridge.

The ribbon is from my stock. The red ribbon has white stitches on both sides and I added blue ribbon to the top.

The stamp set is from Sarah at Pink By Design. It's the Animated Greetings set. The stamp actually says "You're My SuperHero". I wanted to use it for Memorial Day so I "masked" the Super part of the stamp. I punched them with a Marvy punch and then matted it with blue. I really like the way you can take one of the great stamps from Pink By Design and alter it to make it exactly what you need for any given project.

This is our front porch on Saturday. It's been very rainy and gloomy so the picture isn't very bright. I fly the banners on Memorial Day and the 4th of July. On the left side of the porch is a gazebo that is cut off in the picture, but it has a porch swing and my husband and I enjoy swinging there every evening.

Now on to the fun part of the blog hop. Everyone loves goodies so I'm giving away the Cricut Lite cartridge Cupcake. It can be used for more than cupcakes. It has some great images. Become a follower and leave me a comment telling me your a follower and I will pick a winner on June 2.

Be sure to follow along the blog hop by going to Cindy's blog at In Love with PAPER.
Here is the complete list so you can start from the beginning and not miss any of the wonderful projects.
Michelle from Greengirl Scraps ---- Beginning
Laura from Laura's Piece of Paradise
Kristin from My Fantabulous Life
Rexann from I Be Circled
Jamie from My Amusing Life
Dana from Paper Memories ---- You are Here
Cindy from In Love with Paper
Brenda from Happy Scrapper 64
Roberta from Tx Scrapper Mom
Renee from I came, I saw, I created

Have fun blog hopping and Happy Memorial Day!

Cricut Fun Cups

2011-05-24T10:44:00.008-05:00

When I joined the Cricut Circle I received the Everyday Cricut Cartridge and I LOVE it. It was one of the main reasons I joined the Circle. I've really enjoyed so many wonderful things about the Circle since then but it was the main reason I joined in the beginning.

I wanted to make something fun with it and I had seen these cups at Wal Mart. It's about the only store in my small town. So if you don't find it at Wal Mart you have to travel 60+ miles to Des Moines where there's a better selection of stores. The cup is insulated and has a twist on lid with strong plastic straw. It's a very durable cup and the other one is a brighter green with a plastic belly band around it.

So I took my Everyday Cricut cartridge and found the Cricut Circle head that I wanted to add to the cups. There are so many great images on this cartridge. I'm sure I'll be using it alot. There's also some crafty phrases I want to add to my scrapbook room walls.

Both cups are green so I wanted to use pink vinyl on both of them. I cut several different sizes for the cups. The only vinyl that I had access to was the Cricut vinyl that Wal Mart carries. You can order permanent adhesive vinyl on line but it didn't work out for me to do that right now. So I just used what I had on hand. So far I have hand washed my cup several times and I haven't had any problems.

This first cup is a bit busy. I think I got a little slap happy in slapping so many circles on it. But it makes me happy every time I use it.
I really like the Cricut green color of this cup. I decorated it for a blog giveaway for the Mother's Day blog hop I was in. I used the inside circles of the Cricut symbol to add to the embossed circles on the rubber grip.
And both cups have the added surprise of a Circle head around the opening for the straw.
It's so quick and easy making these cups. I want to make one for my niece and put pink crowns on it.

NEW OFFICIAL CRICUT BLOG

2011-05-18T15:03:00.003-05:00

Have you seen the new Official Cricut Blog? It's going to have so many great new projects and ideas. Today you get a peek into Jingers scrap room. Let me tell you, she has so much cardstock. It could make a girl giddy with so much wonderful cardstock in one place. Go to Cricut Blog and enter to win $100 in Cricut.com credit. And if you go to Royal Things and become a follower you can win $150 in Cricut.com credit there too. Be sure to grab the Cricut Blog blinkie too.

2011-05-11T23:12:00.000-05:00

The Cricut Circle blog is having a National Scrapbook Day giveaway and we have to take a picture of ourselves in our scrapbook rooms. I'm in my scrap room in the basement. I love my happy place, it's pink, black and white. My favorite colors. I'm working on cards at my crop island. I found the cubes on clearance at Target a few years ago. It's the perfect height for me to stand and scrap. The drawers have lots of ribbon, border punches, stamps, ink pads, stickles and adhesive. The wall of closets behind me have scrap supplies in 2 closets and 2 have holiday decorations. I like a place for everything and everything in its place. I scrap better when everything is put away and organized.
Happy Scrapping!

Versatile Blogger award

2011-05-10T22:49:00.006-05:00

Thank you to Tami at Scrappin Rabbit Designs and Lauren at All Things Crafty for a wonderful award. If you haven't been to their blogs yet make sure you stop by and say hi. They both gave me the Versatile Blogger Award.

According to the award I have to tell 7 things about myself and then pass the award on to others. So my 7 little known things are:
1. I just received my Cricut Expression 2 tonight and I've been making some fun things.
2. Pink is my favorite color.
3. I LOVE Mocha Frappe's from McDonalds. We don't have a StarBucks so this is as close as I
get.
4. I HATE all other foods from McDonalds. :)
5. I'm a Cricut Circle Member and love it.
6. I used to sell scrapbook supplies and I really miss it.
7. Roses are my favorite flowers. Especially pink roses.

Now to pass this award on to other wonderful bloggers.
Pink Cricut
Scrappy Jess
Crafting Cricut Mom
Random Thoughts of a Scrapbooker
KBiendesigns
Monique Griffith Designs

There are so many other wonderful blogs out there and soooooo many talented women. Just click on my profile and you will find all the blogs I follow. Please check out the blogs that I follow and you'll find more deserving women.

WINNER of Thanks Mom blog hop

2011-05-10T16:11:00.004-05:00

THANK YOU all for joining in the Thanks Mom blog hop. It was so much fun reading all the comments and also hopping along with you all. So many talented ladies out there.

Now on to what everyone wants to know. I had to adjust the numbers for the people who were actually followers. We went from 32 to 24 possible winners. So thru Random. Org the winner of the giveaway is:
Dale Morin

Dale Morin said...: Great card. I just became your newest follower. Great blog candy too.
http://daleleemorin.typepad.com
Dale please contact me at papermemories4u@yahoo.com and I'll get your prize out to you right away. If I don't hear from Dale in 1 week I will pick another winner.

Thanks for playing along and hope everyone had a scrappy weekend.

Thanks Mom Blog Hop

2011-05-03T21:35:00.017-05:00

Welcome to the THANKS MOM BLOG HOP. Thanks for joining us to enjoy all the wonderful crafty inspiration in honor of mother's everywhere from the talented designers in this hop.

You should have arrived here from Jami's blog at the Paper Farm. If you missed the beginning of the hop, please go back to the start of the hop at Debbie's blog Deb's Eclectic Thoughts to start so you don't miss any of the projects. There is a Grand Prize Blog Candy offered so you want to start at the beginning and read how to participate to win.

Today I have a card I made for 2 very special friends. They both have kids the same age as my kids. I say kids but their all adults now. But they have always loved and prayed for my kids as if they were their own. It's a great comfort when you have friends that pray for you children. We can all use extra prayers.
We're all very good friends but their personalities are somewhat different. So I made one design for both cards but changed them to fit each woman.
Both cards started out with the exact same cardstock and patterned paper. But they have very different looks just by inking the papers of the first card.

Tim Holtz Distress ink in Vintage Photo works perfect with the K & Company paper for the distressed card. Using the inker and rubbing it in circular motion added so much depth and aged the paper perfectly. I used the same technique on all the papers for the distressed card. On the brighter card I left all the papers untouched, the lace and Cricut cuts are the exact same.
Here's all the papers, lace and cuts from the Cricut inked. It's hard to believe that the same lace was used on both cards. Just by inking the lace it totally changes the look of the lace.

The card base is Kraft cardstock cut at 4 3/4 wide x 5 1/4 tall. I used the cuttlebug folder Textile on the cream card stock. I rounded the edges on all the papers. The cream paper border above the lace is cut with the Cricut using the Elegant Cake cartridge, it's on page 65 and cut at 1/4" and inked. The sentiment is from My Pink Stampers "Simply Sweet Occasions" stamp set. It's stamped on a cut from the Mother's Day cartridge cut at 2 1/2". The sentiment is popped up with Pop Dots and I added buttons with glue dots.

Two very different looks with the same papers. I really like both looks, which one do you prefer?

A blog hop wouldn't be complete without some blog candy. Become a follower and leave a comment to enter to win. One comment per person please. Please leave me a way to contact you. The winner will be picked on May 10th.

Thanks for hopping along with us. Remember, if you leave a comment on every designers blog hop post, your name will go into the drawing for the Blog Candy that our THANK MOM BLOG HOP hostess, Debbie, is offering as a Grand Prize.

Next on the hop, is the talented Claire at Cricuty Doo Dah.

If you've missed anyone along the way you can start at:

Debbie at Debs Eclectic Thoughts START HERE

Brenda at Happy Scrapper 64

Dawn at Scrappyrn-scrappyrn

Chrissie at Chatterscene

Cindy at In Love with Paper

Suzanne at Cricut Crafting Grammy

Paula at Owl be Scrappin

Maria at Stamp Cut Create

Robin at Scrappin Delta Diva

Heather at Houses built of Cards

Jami at The Paper Farm

Dana at Paper Memories -YOU ARE HERE

Claire at Cricuty Doo Dah

Jenny at Scrap with Jenny

Lauren at All Things Crafty

Cassie at Scrappin Palace

Stefani at Styles by Stefani

Heather at Paper Crafter Anonymous

Darcy at Time 2 Create

Kelly at Kbiend Designs END OF BLOG HOP

Don't forget to leave a comment and become a follower to win my blog candy. One comment per person please. And Thanks for joining in our blog hop.

Thank you Helen

2011-05-02T22:15:00.003-05:00

A very late Thank You to Helen at Crafting Cricut Mom. She had a giveaway in January for reaching 600 followers and I was the very fortunate winner of some great blog candy.

I had bought these cute little mailboxes at Target in the dollar section last year. I knew that I wanted to decorate them for my adult kids for Valentines. But I didn't have any valentine patterned paper. So it was perfect that Helen sent me a very Valentine inspired giveaway.
I added a glass heart and a couple flowers that I had in my stock. I also had the double heart bling and it fit perfect on the back of the mailbox.
I used the Martha Stewart heart punch to the paper on the front and the band that wraps around the top is punched on both sides.
I filled each mailbox with their favorite candy. I wanted to make a card for them too but I ran out of time. But I think they were happy with the candy.

Wooooot Woooot, I'm getting an Expression 2 !

2011-04-26T16:40:00.003-05:00

Yipppppe! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. I entered all the contests. I entered My Pink Stamper's give away, I entered Cricut Everyday's giveaway, I also entered Creative Critter's giveaway. But no, I didn't win any of them.
I had a night of fun watching all the Ustreams. I watched Joy and Melanie on Cricut Everyday's Ustream and I watched Tammy's Ustream and loved her demo on the Cricut buttons. So cute and so BIG!

I also watched Robyn's Ustream from My Pink Stamper, loved her pj's. By this time I knew I hadn't won the E2 and if I was going to get it I had to buy it. I just couldn't do it. I wanted it and it looked so good on HSN but I hadn't really talked to hubby about it. I told him how great it was but we never talked about buying it.

So during the U Streams and HSN I kept myself busy with my original E and made some fun things and a mess while I was at it.

And then I went to bed a very sad girl. I knew by morning they would be gone. And they were. Hubby came home for lunch and I was watching HSN and we saw they had added 2000 more E2's! He asked if I had ordered mine yet and I said it was to expensive. He said I was worth it- he's such a good hubby. He told me to order it for Mother's Day because I had no other ideas of what I wanted. So it's ordered!!! It won't be here by Mother's Day like they said the first batch would. But it will be here May 16. It's worth the wait, I just wish I were a more patient person. Who else is getting an E2?

Cricut Everyday

2011-04-24T18:15:00.003-05:00

Just in case you don't win the Cricut Expression 2 on My Pink Stamper you can go to Cricut Everyday and enter to win there. They have lots of ways to enter so you have more than one chance to win.
How many are staying up til 12:00 CST to see the launch? I'm staying up to watch it and see all the wonderful things it can do and mostly to see some of the wonderful projects made with this great machine.

Cricut Expression 2 Giveaway!

2011-04-22T09:18:00.003-05:00

Robyn over at My Pink Stamper is giving away a Cricut Expression 2 machine! Provo Craft was generous and gave her 1 machine to giveaway. You can go to her blog at My Pink Stamper and enter to win this wonderful machine. You have until Monday night at 10:00 CST to enter. Check out her great projects while your there. Her videos are a great way to learn more about your Cricut too.

2 page layouts

2011-04-15T14:54:00.004-05:00

I am VERY far behind in my kid's albums. My daughter is 26 and my son is 24 and I am a fairly slow scrapbooker. I don't like to reinvent the wheel everytime I sit down to scrap so I use the same papers and similar embellies for both of their pages. I use most of the same photo's but may change a few to ones that highlight them more.

Sorry for the very bad photos. It was gloomy the day I took these pictures and my camera has been giving me problems. I think it's time for a new one but I hate to spend the money.

The photos in this Easter layout are from 2006 and the paper's arent' my favorite but I'm trying to use up old papers and (gasp!) stickers. I wish I could say I used the Cricut somewhere on these pages but I didn't. I joined the Cricut Circle so I'm trying to pinch pennies in different areas and using some old supplies is one of them.

The top layout goes in my daughter's album. The top main photo is of all the granddaughters with Grandma. You'll also notice the bottom photo right photo on the first page shows my son and cousin in a nice photo.
Now look at the same photo on my son's layout. It shows him and his cousin goofing off and shows more of their relationship with each other. The top photo is of Grandma with all the grandsons.
The cardstock colors are basically the same but are in different places on each layout.
It's a small change but a few details makes each layout specific for them and I don't reinvent the wheel with each layout and I get a lot more photos in their albums and thats the goal.
Again, so sorry for the very bad photos.

Create A Critter Thank You

2011-04-10T16:32:00.003-05:00

This is a very late Thank You to Tangee at Kricut Krazy. She had a wonderful give away of the Create A Critter cartridge. It was a cartridge I had been wanting for a long time but hadn't found at a store near me. So I was very excited when I won her giveaway. She was so kind in adding in a few extras too. She has wonderful inspiration to share on her blog and I enjoy her videos too. THANK YOU Tangee!

I cut the monkey on page 46 at 4". I did the 3 layers and used bazzill cardstock to add a bit of texture to the top layer. You can see it in the picture but it adds to the feel of the monkey. I also cut the vines at 4". The card base is kraft cardstock and measures 5 1/2 x 5 1/2. It was the perfect measurement for the envelope I had. All patterend paper is from the DCWV Citrus Stack. The edges were inked with Color Box Cat Eyes Rich Rustics ink. The buttons are from my stash and are tied with Waxy Flax from CTMH. I've never used waxy flax before but I love it. It's so easy to tie and it holds a knot wonderfully. I also popped my monkey up with popdots from Hobby Lobby.

I'm part of the Circle!!

2011-04-08T15:09:00.006-05:00

I've never been so happy to see the FedEx guy! He brought my Cricut Circle box. They even decorated the box with fun Cricut Circle heads. It just makes you happy looking at it.

And of course it would have green crinkle paper inside. Do you see the exclusive cartridge peaking out?

The Circle bracelet is cute too.

And now for the whole reason I became a Circle member!!! The Everyday Cricut cartridge. It has soooo many wonderful images on it. LOVE IT!
I'm a happy camper and will be using the cartridge for lots of fun things. There are several phrases I want to cut with vinyl and put on my scraproom walls. I have a few cards in mind and I can use it on alot of layouts about my daughter and I scrapbooking. Don't think I'll use the Cricut glasses but you never know, I might get goofy one of these days.

2 page layout

2011-04-01T11:24:00.002-05:00

This is a layout from several years ago on vacation. We love South Carolina and this beach is so quiet and relaxing. Our kids took friends with them so we added them in our family pictures. We always take a family picture on vacation and then we use that as our Christmas card.

It's hard to see with the tan background but the blue shell paper is backed with a tan cardstock. The swirls are white card stock cut from a Cricut cartridge. Sorry I don't remember which one. I added small rhinestones to the center of the swirls for a little bling. The "family" letters are an opaque white acrylic. The clear sentiment at the bottom of the second page is a very old clear sentiment sheet. I attached it with shell brads.
It's 50 degrees here today so looking at these pictures of the beach makes me want to go somewhere warm. Have a great weekend

Anniversary Card

2011-03-26T19:51:00.004-05:00

I love the design of this card. It's not my design, I found it on Tracy's blog at Craft Junkie Too. She does a wonderful job and I appreciate the inspiration she shares. My card is very similar to hers. But I did change a few things.

I changed the patterned, added some bling and changed the year for the couple I'm sending it to. This is the card that I'll send to everyone with an anniversary this year so the year changes for each couple. I made this card last year, but it was much larger because it needed to hold a specific gift certificate. I had added ribbon to the top of the card that was from the couples wedding. This time I left the ribbon off the top of card because I need to send it thru the mail so it needs to be as flat as possible.

It's a regular A2 size card and the heart (pg. 35) was cut from the Sweethearts cartridge at 4". The heart is cut in a silver shimmer paper but it didn't photograph well.
The numbers were cut from Storybook at 2" and the letters were cut at 1". They don't have a shadow so I cut the same size in black and just slightly overlapped them so their was a shadow on one side.

The inside is a silver glimmer paper from Target. I used a Martha Stewart punch for the edge. The sentiment is from CTMH and the "Happy Anniversary" is a wood stamp. Not sure where it's from.
Thanks again to Tracy at Craft Junkie Too for the inspiration.

Blogger Award

2011-03-24T08:56:00.003-05:00

One of my new followers gave me a wonderful blog award.The Versatile Blogger Award. How sweet is she! Please visit Maquel at PaperManiac. She has a wonderful blog also.

The Versatile Blogger Award requirements:
1. Thank the person who sent it to you
2. Tell 7 things about yourself
3. Send this to 15 bloggers

Seven things about me- I always hate this part. There's nothing to exciting here.
1. I have 2 adult children that are really just the neatest people that you would ever want to
spend time with.
2. My Dad's blind and I take care of him.
3. I use to sell scrapbook supplies and now I clean houses. Uggg
4. I'm a night owl and love to scrapbook late at night.
5. My scrap room is pink and black. LOVE IT!
6. I was never a big animal lover but now we have a black lab that is our biggest baby. She's
spoiled rotten and we love her!
7. My favorite spot in the whole world is a beach. We've been to many many beaches and still my
favorite beach is Litchfield beach in South Carolina.

And now I have to give this award to other bloggers.
1. Karlee Crafts
2. Pink Cricut
3. Made by Momo
4. Craft Junkie
5. Crafting Cricut Mom
6. Monique Griffith Design
7. Kricut Krazy

WINNER!

2011-03-14T13:10:00.003-05:00

Thanks to everyone that visited my blog and left a comment and became a follower. I truly enjoyed reading all of your comments. I can't wait to have another give away. I already have the cartridge ready. Keep checking back and when followers have reached 100 I'll give away a Cindy Loo cartridge.
Now on to our winner. Congratulations to SherriB ! You are the winner of the Street Sign retired cartridge. I've sent you an email. Please respond to that email with your mailing address and I will get that out to you. I've been working on a few cards and very few layouts. Hope to post more this week. I also have several Thank You's I need to post on here for blog candy I have won. It's a sunny day here in Iowa so I need to get outside and take pictures of cards, layouts and blog candy. Hope you enjoy your day.
After I posted this I see that Random.org didn't post the winning number. SherriB is still the winner- her number just didn't show up below. I did use Random.org so it was a random winner. Guess I need to figure out how to post with the winning number. Sorry girls, I'm still learning.

&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;The numbers generated by this widget come from RANDOM.ORG's true random number generator.&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;

1000 Hit Giveaway

2011-03-08T21:28:00.003-06:00

When I started this blog it was to keep family and friends up to date with happenings in our little corner of the world. I decided to add a few projects I made but didn't put to much thought into the blog itself. Now it seems to be more of a papercrafting blog with a few family updates for good measure.

I'm not a big numbers person but it seems everyone is celebrating their "hits and followers" lately. Today I realized my blog had 1000 hits. So to celebrate 1000 hits I'm giving away a Street Sign cartridge.

All you have to do is leave a comment with an email address for me to contact you and become a follower. I will draw a winner Monday March 14.

Soliders Birthday card

2011-03-08T15:23:00.004-06:00

This is a card I made for my husbands cousin. He's serving in Egypt and he was deployed over his birthday. His mom and wife asked everyone to make a card and they sent them as a surprise to him.
I used my Cricut but I don't remember what cartridge I used. I would feel terrible that my memory is that bad but I made it in October and didn't write down any of the details. It was a quick last minute card so their isn't alot of detail.
I've been saving my Cricut rewards points so I can get the Stand & Salute cartridge to make him another card. So many wonderful cuts on that cartridge.

A very long over due THANK YOU!!!

2011-03-01T21:26:00.003-06:00

I was a very lucky winner at Popsicle Toes . Donna had wonderful blog candy during World Card Making day. Wow, that tells you how behind I am in thanking her. She gave away a $30 gift certificate to Custom Crops. You have to check them out, their one of my favorite places to buy Cricut cartridges and My Pink Stamper stamps. And that is exactly what I "bought" with my GC. I had the "Faithful Sayings" stamp set on my wish list and the Cricut cartridge "Summer in Paris". I've used the stamps many times and I wish I could say I've used the cartridge but I haven't. It's on my list of must use carts and I'm sure with summer fast approaching it will be used soon. Thank You, Thank You Donna for a wonderful gift. And I'm so very sorry for being so late on this. Make sure you visit Popsicle Toes and Custom Crops.

Thank You card

2011-02-20T23:20:00.004-06:00

This is a quick and easy card I made for my nephews that puppy sat for our dog Minnie while DH and I were gone this past weekend. I used the Paper Pups cartridge, the puppy was on page 116 and was cut at 5". The bone was cut at 3/4" from page 128. The bone was the perfect size for the "thank you" stamp from My Pink Stamper's Family & Friends set.
The patterned paper and green cardstock were scraps and they were mounted on Kraft card stock.

My Pink Stamper Challenge

2011-02-13T15:36:00.004-06:00

For the challenge at Robyn's My Pink Stamper blog we had to use black and our favorite color. Black and white have been my favorite colors lately and pink is always my favorite so it makes sense that the 3 together are all my favorite colors. You can't go wrong with that color combination. I bought a white chipboard pillow box a long time ago. I can't remember if it was from Close To My Heart or Stampin Up. The paper is actually Christmas paper but when I put the flowers across the candy cane section you can't see them. It's perfect for candy or any little treat. I added a rhinestone in the center of each flower. I needed this project to be quick so I didn't add other decorations. I left it as a surprise for my daughter on her bed. When we visit her apartment I like to leave little surprises for her to find after we're gone.

Teen boy card

2011-02-02T11:47:00.003-06:00

I've only been working on cards lately so here's another one. I designed this card for teen boys but you could use it for men too. I used the Graphically Speaking cartridge. It has so many great images for guys. The car was cut at 2 1/2". The camera doesn't do the card justice. I couldn't get the silver glimmer paper to shine in the pictures but the silver does glimmer like metallic paint would on a car. I don't remember where I bought the patterned paper but I thought it went really well with the car design. I wish I would have used the Diamond Plate Cuttlebug folder on the gold paper but I had it all put together before I thought of that. The "Enjoy the Ride" was also cut from Graphically Speaking. The design of the card didn't allow for the oval design that the words are in so I cut them out of the oval and put them on the top of the card.

Celebrate with Style

2011-01-29T09:56:00.003-06:00

I'm making all of my cards again this year. It went great last year. I always had the card I needed on hand. It helps that I make them all in Jan/Feb. All the men get the same card, all the ladies get the same card for the year and so on. This year all the ladies and teen girls will get this card. I think it's fitting for both.

The high heels are from the Wedding Solutions cartridge and they were cut at 2 1/2" each. I used the flip feature so I have one shoe going in each direction. I used a Martha Stewart border punch. I don't remember where the sentiment stamp is from but it fits the card perfectly. I added 2 smaller rhinestones on the back of each heel and a med. rhinestone in the center of the strap. It adds just the right amount of bling.
Hope you a good weekend and Happy Crafting

Taxes- yuck!

2011-01-26T18:58:00.003-06:00

Ok, I'm going to blame my absence on doing my business taxes. I hate doing taxes and I didn't keep very good track this year so it took me a looooong time to get everything up to date. But it's finally done and hopefully I can get back to crafting.
I've also been working on finding a suitable place for my Dad to live in town. There has been lots of paper work and just a wee bit of drama trying to get him to town. We're still waiting for a place to open up and we're praying desperately that it happens before it starts to get nice or we won't be able to get him out of the country until next winter. But it's not safe for him to live alone anymore so we're praying things work out quickly.
This weekend I'll post some cards I've been working on. Have a great day!

Baby Card

2011-01-10T20:55:00.003-06:00

I made this card about a year ago but I realized I hadn't shared it yet. I was trying to use up scrap paper and some old stickers so I put the boat sticker on white card stock and trimmed around it. I used pop dots to give it a bit of dimension. It's a quick and easy card and a great way to use up old stickers.

A card from last year

2011-01-05T19:38:00.002-06:00

I made some cards last year that I never had a chanced to post, so I thought I'd share one today. I made this one with the Cricut and the "From My Kitchen" cartridge. My mother-in-law had hip replacement surgery this fall, so I made this card for her. When I first started dating Roger and we would go to his parents house in Illinois she would always be in an apron. I have so many pictures of her and my kids baking cookies and all in aprons. She is a great seamstress and she made each of the kids their own aprons. We still have those cute aprons.

Fun Christmas Video

2010-12-10T08:38:00.000-06:00

Hope you enjoy the video and it gives you a smile today.

Bad Bad Blogger

2010-12-09T09:38:00.002-06:00

Yup, I did it again, totally forgot I had a blog. Ok, maybe I didn't forget but life got away with me and I thought about the blog but didn't know what to blog about. It's been a rough year but we're looking forward to the New Year and a better year. So I won't promise that I will blog daily, weekly or monthly, I will blog more than I did this year.

A very big THANK YOU

2010-10-07T22:11:00.002-05:00

Whooo Hooo, I won! I'm sending a very big Thank You to Donna at Popsicle Toes . I was the fortunate winner of the Custom Crops gift certificate from her blog hop. She has a wonderful blog with lots of inspiration to share. If you scroll thru her projects you will see some wonderful Christmas cards.
You have to visit Custom Crops too and check out all their wonderful sales. I love their sales on Cricut cartridges and I buy "My Pink Stamper" stamps from them also. I haven't decided which cartridge I'm buying with my gift certificate but I'll be deciding soon.

Birthday Cards

2010-10-01T16:41:00.003-05:00

I decided that I was going to make all of the birthday cards this year. This is the card I made for all the teen girls in our families. The girl image and sentiment on the front of the card are made with Close to my Heart stamps. Inside the card the "Birthday Wishes" is from "My Pink Stamper" line of stamps I think. I love the saying for this card. It's perfect for teen girls. It reminds them they are exactly who they are supposed to be. "Be Yourself... Everyone else is taken"! All the papers on this card are made with scraps.

This card was made for all the young boys. It's so super easy. Patterned paper for the top portion and scrap paper for the blue and green cardstock. The cupcake was punched from patterned paper also, I punched a scalloped circle to mount the cupcake on and the front is done. The inside candle border is a EK Success border punch I think. So super easy for little boys that don't really care about cards.

CKC

2010-09-22T23:54:00.000-05:00

Two of my very best friends and I decided we needed a fun day so we went to the CKC convention in Des Moines in July. We had SOOOOO much fun. And we all spent way more than we planned but Oh My, we got so many wonderful scrapping goodies.
Thelma and I bought our Christmas gifts for each other while we were there. Here is some of the fun things she picked out. Of course I'll have a few little surprises for her too.

Wish I had pics of the things she bought for me. LOVE LOVE the brown album I'll be getting later this year. We had so much fun picking out our gifts that we may do this every year. We definitely hope CKC comes back to Iowa.
We all said we bought enough supplies to keep us scrapping for quite some time. Patty and I have been scrapping every Tuesday afternoon. I've used alot of the supplies I bought at CKC. With winter and cold weather coming I think I need another shopping day at CKC. Heres a look at the goodies I bought that day.

LIFE

2010-09-06T14:54:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted for quite awhile. There has been much mourning and healing going on in our family. Life has a way of taking you places you don't see coming and you never wanted your family or your adult children to have to walk thru. But here we are. Decisions were made and lives are forever changed. People come into your family and they dont' always have the same values as your family. They make very bad decisions that can't be fixed. But our Lord is good and He will see our family thru. We've been leaning heavily on these verses- Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight", and also Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". We are all a little sadder but we are together and we have our faith to see us thru.

Thank You Maggie

2010-05-21T13:50:00.004-05:00

Quite a while back I won the Celebrations cartridge on a blog give away at Maggie's blog Cuttlebug Challenge. I was so excited. It was the best gift I had won on a blog. Maggie and I emailed back and forth, while we both waited patiently for the mailman to deliver my wonderful gift. It never came. We send alot of packages thru USPS so I know mistakes happen and things get lost. Maggie was so wonderful and sent me another one. YEAH for Maggie!!!! She's the best. I was so happy and very surprised when it came this week. I took it right down to my scrap room and played with the Cricut for quite awhile. It has so many wonderful images on this cart. And she sent me the most beautiful card and some fun extras too. LOVE the bling. So go check out Maggie and her helpers at Cuttlebug Challenge and Cutting Above. Cuttlebug Challenge has the neatest DAD album for Fathers Day.

Cards

2010-05-19T23:18:00.004-05:00

I made a Thank You card for Mona and the wonderful ladies at Maple Ridge. They had a wonderful lunch for the volunteers at Tasos and gave away such great gifts. THANK YOU Ladies!! This is a quick and easy card but thats how I like to make them. Nothing to time consuming. It was scrap black and cream paper with a large prima black flower and a cream flower made with a satin cording and pearls. Add a little ribbon and you have a simply understated card that can be used for so many different occasions.
This card is made with the Cricut and is just to cute. The pictures don't do this card justice. Its a band aid card, I used textured beige cardstock for the bandaid part of it and a white linen paper for the white gauze section. The texture really makes it look real. I'm making them is several different sizes and putting them in a large band aid tin and giving them to Erica. She can send them to her students next school year when they are sick. I'm probably more tickled about them, they are just so CUTE!!

More Laughter for a rainy day -Wrinkled Ladies

2010-05-12T14:47:00.002-05:00

This is for all of us wrinkled ladies out there.
Anita Renfroe is a great Christian comedian that works with Women of Faith. She helps us not take ourselves to seriously. There is another one of her videos in the last post. Just scroll down.
Hope you have a good laugh today.

Laughter for a rainy day!

2010-05-12T14:42:00.002-05:00

It's a rainy gloomy day here and I needed something to brighten my mood and make me laugh today. Anita Renfroe is perfect for what I needed today. You can't watch without laughing. Hope you enjoy!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

2010-05-11T13:44:00.003-05:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Mothers Day. Erica had to work at the learning center in Des Moines so we had Mothers Day early Sunday morning. Tyler and Emma came over and everyone was wonderful about taking as many pictures as I wanted. What better present is there than that? Kids who happily smile for as long as I want!

Erica was so sweet and got me a gift card to my FAVORITE store- Hobby Lobby! Love it. And this week they have a 40% off coupon. Now just to find time to get to Des Moines.

Tyler and Emma brought this BEAUTIFUL bouquet of roses. My very FAVORITE flower! It had so many different colors of roses. They smelled wonderful.
Roger and I had a lazy day after the kids left. We talked, took a nap, went for a drive to Keomah. It was so peaceful and quite out there. Really makes us miss camping. And I got to read quite a bit thru the day too. I love to read but I hate to stop and when I start a new book I don't want to do housework or anything else. So I try to only read on vacation. But Roger had gotten me a new book and it was sooooo long before vacation. So I read it part of the day and most of the night Sunday. By Monday night I had it done. It's kind of like a really good piece of chocolate. Its so good you don't want to stop, but when it's gone you wish you would of made it last longer. Ha Ha. Now I have to get ready for a yard sale and no more reading books til vacation in July. I think I"m getting the other 3 books in the series and they'll be perfect for reading on the beach.

I WON!! I WON!!

2010-05-07T15:29:00.002-05:00

Woooot Woooot for me! I won 2 Cricut cartridges over at The Cuttlebug Challenge. On Sunday I won THE.... Pink Journey cart and Straight From the Nest. I can't even believe I won the Pink Journey cartridge. I've been wanting it for a very long time but wasn't willing to pay what it was going for on Ebay. Everyone knows I love Ebay and get my very best deals on there but Pink Journey is such a sought after cartridge that it goes for a pretty large amount.

I want to send a big THANK YOU to Maggie and the wonderful gals at The Cuttlebug Challenge. They do wonderful work and always have some new inspiration there.

Now I'm waiting very impatiently by the mailbox waiting for the cartridges to get here so I can play.

I"m still trying to figure out how to add their "Winner" blinkie to my blog. I've tried so many times and it's just not working. Well, I'm off to try again.
Have a great weekend everyone!

Purse from Forever Young

2010-05-03T15:13:00.003-05:00

Challenge 5 at My Pink Stamper is a Teacher Appreciation gift. My daughter is a teacher at a Christian school and they take care of their teachers very well. But I wanted to do a little for her so I made this purse I'm going to add a gift card or two inside.

I used the Forever Young Cricut cartridge and enlarged the design on my Gypsy so it would cut it bigger. I loved the pink glittered circles in this paper so I accented them with the pink fringe I bought at Hobby Lobby quite some time ago. There are jewels that hang from the fringe and the the paper has a shimmer to it so I wanted to add a clasp that sparkled too. It's actually a ribbon slide and I attached it with glue dots. To keep the flap on the purse down I added a piece of Velcro under the flap.

I think she's going to like the purse even more than the gift cards. I just hope she doesn't see it on here before I get it sent to her.

More Challenges from National Scrapbook Day

2010-05-03T13:17:00.003-05:00

Challenge #4 is to use a Cricut cartridge that you thought you HAD to have and then have realized you never use it or use it very little. Thats the case with From the Kitchen cartridge. I thought I had to have it, I would use it all the time. Nope, didn't happen. Hadn't even opened it except to redeem the points at Cricut.com/rewards. (little side note- I had enough points to get a free cartridge- YEAH George Basic Shapes)

I looked thru the From the Kitchen cartridge several times trying to find something to make with this. Just didn't see anything that I really liked. I decided to use the cup cake image. I'm making most of my cards this year and I can always use another birthday card to have on hand.
I am amazed that this has turned out to be my favorite card!! I used scraps for every part of this card. I used a Martha Stewart border edge punch on the white card stock and a jewel instead of a cherry on top of the cupcake. The sentiment says "Sweet thoughts of You" and it's from the My Pink Stamper line of stamps. Now I"m off to make a few more of these out of the scraps that are left.

Thinking out side the box

2010-05-01T23:39:00.003-05:00

The next challenge for National Scrapbook Day was to think outside the box and use something on your layout that you don't normally use. I've had an unopened bottle of Glossy Accents since the fall and hadn't been brave enough to try it. So today was the day.

It's really hard to see on this layout but it will take any diecut, image, sticker or whatever you want to put it on and make it shiny. This is not my favorite layout but I'm into getting it done lately. But I did like it abit better after I jazzed it up a bit. I added the Glossy Accents to the flowers and then added Stickles around the edges of the Glossy Accents. I aslo added Stickles to the edge of the journaling oval, the word "Good" and to the green accent in the corner. I love Stickles but I usually use them on cards and hadn't used it on a layout. It really makes a big difference when you see it up close.
Ok, now it's your turn, think outside the box and go try something on your layout that you don't normally use. Have Fun!

Use up your scraps

2010-05-01T23:30:00.004-05:00

I love this challenge at My Pink Stamper. We're to use up our scraps. I'm usually pretty good about using scraps but I haven't been scrapping much and when I do it's quicker to just use the paper on hand instead of sorting thru all of my scraps and then not finding the color I need.

I must scrap alot with blue and green cardstock because the blue and green drawer is over flowing. I did make a card with some pattern paper scraps and then I used some of the blue and green scraps too. The flowers were cut out of the pattern paper and I used pop dots to pop them up. I think it turned out great. The "Smile" is a My Pink Stamper's line of stamps. She designed them so they work perfectly with the Cricut images and cards.

National Scrapbook Day

2010-05-01T23:17:00.004-05:00

I'm having fun doing the challenges for National Scrapbook Day over at the Pink Stamper's blog. I've been busy doing her challenges and some of my own scrapbooking.

Here's my scrapbook island before I started. I like to keep it clean in between my scrapping sessions. So I clean it each time. I have a feeling today it's going to get pretty messy in my room before I'm done.

The 1st challenge was to make something for or about your Mother. I made a Mother's day card with a new flower technique I learned. I love these flowers, there are so easy to make.

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My Pink Stamper

2010-04-29T23:59:00.003-05:00

Saturday is National Scrapbook Day and I have my house cleaned and all of my chores done so I can scrapbook the day away. Hmmmmmm, ok, maybe part of the day. There are always chores and laundry that need done.

But I'm going to be hanging out in my basement scrapbook room scrapping as much as possible and when I come upstairs I'll be checking in at My Pink Stamper blog. There will be lots of wonderful Cricut goodies that she's giving away. Woot Woot, we all love free stuff. Especially scrapbook stuff! I have both of her stamp sets and they are wonderful. They stamp crisp clean images and I haven't found any stamps like them. The stamps were made to go with the Cricut images and are perfect for cards. I also have her videos and love them. I've learned so much about the cricut by watching her videos.

I'm in the middle of planning a Cricut Swarm crop. Everyone can bring their Cricuts and I'm hoping I have one or two ladies that maybe teaching some Cricut classes. I'll have my Gypsy there so you can try it out if you don't have one already. Leave me a message with your email if your interested in the crop and I'll keep you updated.

A New Look

2010-04-20T14:54:00.003-05:00

For some reason I think I need a picture for every post and I haven't downloaded any pics on the computer for a while. I have wonderful pictures from Easter and our newest little great nephew. He's so very sweet and kissable! I've made cards and a few layouts at a crop last saturday, so we'll see if I can get them posted soon.

I've been "spring cleaning" of sorts. My basement storage room has been driving me crazy for quite some time. So I finally took the time and went thru boxes and boxes of Erica and Tyler's toys and keepsake boxes. Who needs every A paper they every received in school??? As I was going thru the boxes I transferred everything from cardboard boxes to rubber maid totes. I actually like going into the storage room now and just looking at all the totes lined up in a nice row. Everything has labels and dates in them so I know right where everything is. Yup, I know. CRAZY! But it's the small crazy things that keeps this girl happy.

When I was done with the storage room I painted my scrapbook room. I've hated the yellow paint as soon as I was done painting it. But I HATE to paint so I left it hoping against all odds that it would grow on me and I would learn to love it. No such hope. Two years later I still hate it. I decided to go black, white and pink in there this time. The two short walls are still white and I painted the two long walls Verbena pink. Some of the furniture is still white and I painted some pieces black. I LOVE it! It's my new happy place. Now if I just had some free time to spend in there scrapbooking.

While I was at it I decided my blog could use a little sprucing up of its own. I tried a few new looks but didn't find any others that I loved. I think this one might be around for a while tho. I just realized It matches my new scrapbook room colors! LOL I'm really into this new color scheme I guess.

I think my next project will be the laundry room. Although I really should get my regular spring cleaning done to the main part of the house. You can hardly see out my windows! Oh, and the garden needs planted and flowers planted, and a yard sale to get ready for. I guess I'm off to the laundry room to see if there is anything in there I can add to the yard sale.

Anniversary Card

2010-04-06T17:39:00.003-05:00

I made this anniversary card for Tyler and Emma for their first anniversary. I can't believe it's been a year already. WOW! Time flies.

I found the idea at Craft Junkie Too . We had a gift certificate that needed to go in it so I needed to make it BIG. I took a 12x12 sheet of black paper and folded it in half for the base.

I cut the heart and the letters and number with the Cricut. the heart is made with silver shimmer paper and the 1yr was made with the white glitter paper from Target.
I like to decorate the inside of the card so I printed my sentiments using a Word program on the computer and then I decorated the inside with scrap paper. I like using up those scraps!
The bows were made using leftover ribbon from the pew bows from the wedding. I made my own envelope but forgot to take a picture of it. It had a large scallop at the top to allow the envelope to come just below the bow.

Flowers for the Teachers

2010-03-30T17:55:00.003-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of spending the day with Erica at the Marshalltown Christian School were she teaches first & second grades. It was Parent Teacher conferences and a work day for their spring program.

Before I went I wanted to make something special for the teachers. They are a wonderful group of women that mean so much to Erica. I decided it would be nice to have something bright and springy for their desks during conferences. I used the Cricut and the George cartridge using both flowers from that cartridge. With each color I cut them at different sizes and shapes. I curled the edges slightly and glued them together and attached them to a wood skewer and attached a button to the center of each. I filled the vases with spring colored M&M's and tied a ribbon to each vase. It was a fairly quick and easy project.

During conferences I cut titles and images for their spring program using the Cricut. When we were done with the items needed for the program I cut images for their bulletin boards using lots of different cartridges. The one we used the most for images was A Child's Year. I have lots of ideas for Erica's classroom bulletin boards next year.

Last of Kitchen pictures

2010-03-26T23:28:00.008-05:00

The wall words are above the pantry door which you see when you come in the back door. I love this verse and it sits the feeling for my whole home as soon as guests walk in the door.

I cut the pantry letters and scrolls out with my Cricut with black vinyl. I really liked the way it turned out.
The iron scroll work hangs above the the island and cupboards. I bought this plate at Hobby Lobby and love it. It sits on the island between the kitchen and dining room.

I love the coffee mugs and iron carrier, it was a gift from the kids at Christmas.
Little did they know it would go perfectly in the new kitchen. I found the curtains when we were first talking about redoing the kitchen. I loved the Waverly print and knew it would add the warm feeling I wanted in the kitchen. We did change out the faucet to match the oil rubbed bronze knobs on the cabinets.
The school cookie jar above the cabinets was my mother inlaws. She always had it filled with cookies when Roger and his brothers and sister came home from school.
I love my new canisters. I ended up buying them from Ebay and they were much much cheaper than JC Pennys. They are the first things I see when I walk into the kitchen from the family room and they make me smile every time. First- because I love the way they look and Second- because I know what a terrific deal I got.

Lambs of the Lord

2010-03-10T11:21:00.002-06:00

Here is a lamb I made for Erica's class bulletin board. As a christian school teacher she doesn't have alot of money to spend on class room decorations. For her spring bulletin board I made each of the kids a lamb and she'll put them up with the title "Lambs of the Lord" It's a very inexpensive decoration compared to the prices at the Learning Center.

Thursday and friday I'll be in Marshalltown using my Cricut to make back drop decorations and titles for the Marshalltown Christian school spring program. I get to play with the Cricut all day and it helps the school have inexpensive decorations.

More kitchen photos

2010-03-08T23:28:00.004-06:00

The countertops are in and I love them. It gives such a totally different look to the kitchen. I'm still deciding on some finishing touches. Like the canisters. I found these at Target and I like them well enough but:
I LOVE these I found at Pennys Home store. But the price is a bit much. Hmmmmm, maybe a Mothers Day present???

Loving the new frig with ice and water in the door and the new pantry is so wonderful. I don't even mind cooking with my new double oven. I do LOVE the new counter tops. It makes the wood of the cupboards look even better. The kitchen has such a warm feeling to it now.
I'll post pics of the decorating soon. Roger still has to put up the cornice boards on the cupboards and I need to wire the flowers to the greenery. We put up the wall words tonight and it looks great.

Perfectly Ordinary Days

2010-03-01T22:51:00.004-06:00

This video is to all Moms. The empty nesters who understand this all to well, the soon to be empty nesters that are just now coming to the realization and the Moms with kids still at home. Treasure the ordinary days!!
(it takes a second to load so please be patient. It's so very worth the wait)

We're almost done

2010-02-23T18:29:00.006-06:00

The kitchen remodel has taken on a life of it's own. But we're almost done. You know, those small last details that can get put off until you have the time? Well, those are the ones we're trying to get done. But here are some pics of the kitchen along the way.

We're so thankful Tyler and Emma only live a block and a half from us. They were here every night and a few weekends helping. We couldn't have gotten it all done with out Tyler. This is Roger and Tyler laying the FIRST floor. Yup, the first floor.

Here you can see the floor is very very light and not at all what we thought we were getting. We learned alot of lessons about flooring thru this.

And here are the guys laying the SECOND floor! Yes we took up the first floor and put down a second floor and it looks so much better. I just love the color of the wood on the second floor.

Roger is hooking up the frig we bought in Nov. YEAH!!!! We finally have an ice maker and water in the door. It's the small things that makes a girl happy.

I think my new double oven maybe my favorite new appliance. It's definitely something I've been wanting for a very long time. I really do love it. I use the top oven almost daily.

We decided to replace the cabinet knobs too. The white ones are the old knobs and the oil rubbed bronze knobs are the new ones. They make the cabinets look so much better.

Here we are getting ready for the new counter tops. Our contractor went on a missions trip before they came in so we had to wait for them to be installed. But it was so very worth it.

I have to download the rest of the pictures so I'll post them in the next day or so.

Why we Scrapbook

2010-02-09T12:53:00.002-06:00

Reminisce made a video about "Why we scrapbook", my friend Angela Ploegman's kids are featured in the video. You can visit her blog and see all of the wonderful projects she does for Reminisce.

More blog candy

2010-01-19T13:22:00.004-06:00

Ok Ladies, here is even more blog candy. Make sure you enter to win before Jan. 27th. I was on a roll last fall but haven't won anything for a while. Go to ALL PINK GIRL to enter this one

You can win Martha Stewart punches at ABC Toys and Cr afts
And the Daily Marker has a great give away too. Stamps, pearl bling, ink pads, card stock. We can all use free stuff to help supplement our crafts. So enter to win!

Free Blog Candy

2010-01-14T17:19:00.002-06:00

Who doesn't like free these days? And free scrapbook supplies are even better. We all have to watch our pennies lately so go to Posh Designs and sign up for the free scrap goodies.

Kitchen Remodel

2010-01-12T10:07:00.003-06:00

You know how you start one small change in a kitchen and it becomes a complete remodel? Well, thats were we are right now. Our old frig is on it's last leg and fading fast so we decide to get a new frig. Well if we're getting a new frig., this would be the perfect time to put in the door I've been wanting for the past 6 years, to the basement (right now you have to go thru the kitchen, dining room, family room and office to get to the basement stairs). If we're putting in a door to the basement all of the cupboards will have to be moved on that wall, (upper & lower cupboards) and if your moving cupboards you will need to paint, and why not replace the floor, and boy the counter tops are looking really bad. Yada Yada Yada, and that is how our not so small change has become a complete remodel. Oh, and we're getting a new stove sometime too.
Here's pics of the guys are moving cupboards and Emma and I "try" to help a bit.

Birthday Card

2010-01-08T14:38:00.004-06:00

I love my border punches and in this card I used 3 different ones. Its a great card to use up scraps. I'm trying to make all of my cards this year and I was able to make several cards like this using up the stripe paper. I've used this paper on so many projects. I'd love to see the cards you make using just scraps.

Christmas ornament with the Cricut

2009-12-30T23:30:00.003-06:00

I know Christmas is over, but I was so busy before Christmas I didn't have time to post.
This year I added a Puppy Tree to our collection of Christmas trees. I took matt & shiney pearl white bulbs

and cut dog silhouettes with black vinyl on the Cricut. I pressed the vinyl onto the bulbs and smoothed out the edges with a bone folder. The picture didn't turn out very well but the bulbs look great on the tree.
I made homemade dog treats and sprayed a clear coat to make them shine. I also made the dog tags with the Cricut. I used rubons for each of the dogs names. All in all I think it turned out pretty cute.

More calender pages

2009-12-21T15:33:00.003-06:00

I'm a week late but here is the last 6 months of pages I made for my Mom's calender for 2010.
In these pictures we have Andrea & Lindsey, the bottom picture is Alex and Emily

This was taken when Roger and I were in Hawaii in Feb.
Erica sitting at her desk in her class room and the bottom picture is the outside of the Marshalltown Christian school she teaches at.
Carson and Kenzie decorating foam leaves.
Tyler and Kyle wearing Andrews hat.
Uncle Richard, Aunt Janet, Aunt Betty Ann
Aunt Marcia, Uncle Irvin and Mom (Arlene)

I still need to add a picture of Uncle Irvins house at the bottom of this picture. He passed away this year.

Amazing Grace

2009-12-18T20:49:00.001-06:00

Calender pages

2009-12-10T15:58:00.005-06:00

Life has been so busy lately and I haven't had time to do anything scrapbook related but every year I make a calender for my Mom's Christmas gift. Here are a few of the pages:
The first picture is of my Mom with the 3 oldest grandkids.

This is the 5 of us at the Nelson Pioneer Farm where we had the reception. The bottom picture is of big Sister Erica getting her dance in with Tyler.
Tyler and Emma took their wedding clothes on their honeymoon with them to get pictures on the beach. They turned out so good. And the water behind them looks wonderful.
This past Easter we took pictures of my Mom with all the Grands. All of the girls in the first picture and the boys in the bottom picture.
Here is us 5 kids with Mom and Dad
My Grandma Phillips is in this picture. All of the pages are pretty simple. Mom is more into the pictures than the scrapbooking part of it. It was a great way to use up some of my older papers and scraps. The next 6 calender pages will be next week.

It's called CHRISTMAS

2009-11-18T19:54:00.003-06:00

This video is all the buzz right now. I believe in CHRIST and Christmas, I'm praying you do too.
To avoid hearing my playlist over the top of this video you can scroll down the right side of my blog and when you get to the black box that says Playlist, click on the stop button and you will be able to listen to the video with out the extra music in the background.

Scrapbook Retreat

2009-11-02T15:30:00.003-06:00

A couple weeks ago Erica and I spent the weekend in Tennessee, Illinois at the Camp LaMoine Christian Womens scrapbook retreat. We always have so much fun and especially this year since Erica has moved over an hour away, it gave us a full weekend of talking, scrapbooking and enjoying the great outdoors.
We get to spend time with Roger's cousin Judy and her friends. We're so thankful Judy invited us to the retreat 3 years ago.
In between eating the wonderful meals they prepare at the camp and walking around the grounds, it's beautiful in the fall, we get some scrapbooking done. You've never seen people pack in so much stuff. Some of the ladies move in large wood storage pieces and plastic carts for all of their supplies. Here's Judy scrapping away.

Pictures of Erica

2009-10-31T09:43:00.005-05:00

Here's a layout I did last weekend at the scrapbook retreat Erica and I went to. It was a quick and easy layout, just like I like them. Sorry for the glare on the pictures. I guess I didn't take the flash off. I love the calender spot by Jenni Bowlin, a quick way to add the month and day with out writing it out. I hate my hand writing. You can see more of the calender cards here. And some of the other Jenni Bowlin embellishments.

Puppy Pictures

2009-10-30T22:29:00.004-05:00

I know you've been patiently waiting for puppy pictures. It's been a loooong time since I posted pictures of our sweet sweet puppy. I know, she's not a puppy anymore but she'll always be a puppy in our eyes. You can tell from the look on her face that she's not amused with her costume. But she makes the cutest Bumble Bee. She's pretty good at getting the costume off by herself but if she needs help she just gives Tyler her sad puppy dog eyes and he helps her.
She doesn't like posing for pictures either and she can pout with the best of them. But I did get a few pictures. Hope you all are having a Happy Fall.

A new card

2009-10-20T09:43:00.003-05:00

Here's a quick and easy card I made over the weekend. You'll find all of my cards are quick and easy. Life's to short and I have to much scrapbooking I need to do to put hours into a card.

I just love the little Jenni Bowlin calender cards. They add just the right touch. And they would be great on a scrapbook layout too. You can go here to order more Jenni Bowlin embellishments. Or just contact me at www.papermemories4u@yahoo.com
Happy Scrapping!

A few treats from the weekend

2009-10-19T09:27:00.005-05:00

This past weekend I had the pleasure of spending a few days with Deanna from Creative Hearts Retreats. I was a vendor at the weekend retreat she held in Des Moines, the ladies had a wonderful time and Deanna is a great cook. There was lots of laughs, fun, food and prizes. I did get a chance to create a few things.
The cappaccino cup is quick and easy to make. They make great gifts with a sample of coffee beans, hot chocolate or tea tucked inside.
The pumpkins turned out adorable. The picture isn't doing them justice. They are quick and easy to make with a scallop punch. You can make them with any size scallop punch you have. Wouldn't they be cute at the Thanksgiving table? Today I think I'm going to try and add them to a card. It would make a great 3D embellishment.

Going Green

2009-10-14T09:50:00.003-05:00

Everyone is going Green it seems and as crafters we already look for scraps of this and that to use in our crafts. Why not use the packaging our craft supplies come in. Here is the package that brads came in.
Take out the insert, lay it on top of the paper you are using. Trace and then trim the paper. Insert it into your package and embellish. Very easy and a great way to use up scraps. I added Dove chocolate treats to my package.
Wouldn't it be wonderful to say I gave this to a friend? OH, Come on, we all know me and you know that chocolate was gone as soon as I took the picture.
Have a great day and go scrap something!

A little peek into Miss Taft's class room

2009-10-10T21:38:00.002-05:00

Roger and I went to Marshalltown to visit Erica a few weeks ago and she let us have a little tour around the school and her class room. She hasn't had time to add any personal touches to her class room yet but she has had time to organize. Wonder where she gets that from.
Here is her VERY small desk. Low man on the totem pole gets small desk. She doesn't spend much time at her desk so it doesn't need to be very big.
Every good Christian school teacher teaches respect for others, yourself and God.

The bookcases and cubbies needed some organization and the kids helped clean out and organize each of their cubbyholes.
Hopefully next time the kids will be in class and I can get a picture of them with Miss Taft.
They have a field trip to Carroll's Pumpkin Farm this week. I'm not sure who's looking forward to it more, the kids or Miss Taft.

A very dear friend

2009-10-05T14:19:00.005-05:00

I finally have pictures downloaded on my computer of a wonderful visit from a very sweet friend. Angela and her girls have a very special place in my heart and her family is just the sweetest. Ted, Angela and the girls moved to Minnesota almost 3 years ago and we've kept in touch by email and our blogs, but it just does a heart good to be able to hug and talk face to face with a friend. We spent long late night hours talking and laughing and sharing our lives and hearts with one another. It really does make me miss her even more.
This was taken before church on Sunday. I look like I'm half asleep and my camara was acting up so I was frustrated with it. I'm not really sure why our hair looks all glittery, I could say mine was the grey hair shining thru but thats not the case with Angela. She's way to young to even think about grey hair yet. She has a better picture with her camara so hopefully I look more awake in that one.

(Angela, I listened to my first Christmas song today, ssshhhhh-don't tell anyone)

Cards for World Card Making Day

2009-10-03T23:37:00.005-05:00

Here are a few cards I made for WCMD. I also used them for the challenges over at AC Bailey Designs forums. This first one is made from craft plastic and I've made it for about a year and a half. I shared the design with the ladies from our church for the cards they send out. It's very easy and versatile. You can really change it up with the paper and stamps you use.

The snowman card was really fun to make. I know it seems a little early for winter cards but it was really cold and rainy today so it put me in the mood.
I used the Sizzix embosser and embossing folders I sell and embossed the swirls on the white strip and embossed the circles for the snowman. I then added stickles to the center of the swirls and snowflakes for a little sparkle. I used black stickles for the eyes and buttons on the snowman.
This is a quick and easy card using several of the products I sell for AC Bailey. I'm using it for my make n take this year. The black paper is embossed using the Sizzix embosser. The red strip is punched with our Fiskars border punch. We also sell Cricut cartridges and I used the Storybook cartridge to cut the white frame. I stamped a sentiment and then added stickles to the edges for the frame.
I used lots of leftovers on this card. I made a layout last week and used the left over patterned paper and kraft paper. I basically used the same design as the layout but changed it for a card. I used the same buttons and flowers.
This card is also made from scraps. I also used a felt flower and it came together very easy.
This is the card purse I used for my make n take last year when I worked for I Remember When. But you can change the papers and make it fit any occasion. This picture is of it laying on the floor but it stands up and looks like a mini purse. You then put a gift card inside or you could stamp a sentiment inside too.
I hope you had a productive World Card Making Day and you have cards made for the upcoming Christmas season. I wanted to get mine made this weekend but I'll have to do that another time.

National Card Making Day

2009-10-01T18:29:00.003-05:00

Did you know that THIS Saturday October 3rd is World Card Making Day???
It began in 2006 as National Card Making Day. Founded by Paper Crafts magazine to bring card makers together at the beginning of the busiest card-making season of the year, it was first held on October 7, 2006. The initial celebration involved the Paper Crafts magazine audience only; however, due to the positive response it received and the worldwide popularity of card making, the holiday became known as World Card Making Day from then on. It is now in its fourth year, World Card Making Day is celebrated annually on the first Saturday in October. It's a day for the card-making community -- hobbyists, retailers, and manufacturers -- to unite and celebrate the connection and creativity that is the heart of card making. So, I went to the Papercrafts site and found this!

World Card Making Day is a holiday especially for card makers around the world to Celebrate the creativity of handmade cards and the personal connection that they create between friends and family as well as to kick off (and get a head start on) the holiday card-making season. How many of YOU have already started your Christmas cards???

We here at AC Bailey want IN on the festivities too! So, we will have another weekend contest here at the AC Bailey forum to celebrate the art of card making!
Join your ACB Design Team and special guests for challenges, a contest, and some learning...as only they can do!
And of course, we will have PRIZES!!!
Get ready for some more fun ladies- it is coming your way!
All official posts to be launched Friday evening-be here you will not want to miss this!

If you want in on the fun click on AC Bailey Designs, it will take you to our main page. On the left side in the "About Us" box you can click on "Forums" and sign up to be apart of your forums and you can join us for the fun.
I will also post some of my cards on my blog. It won't be anything fancy. Just quick, get them done type cards and some cards I've done in the past.
Start gathering your card making supplies and all of those scraps you've been meaning to use up.

Quick card

2009-09-22T23:41:00.003-05:00

I have an overload of paper scraps from layouts I've done and I've decided I need to get them used up and clean out the drawer system I use for all of the scraps. So I made this quick card as a Thank you to a dear friends Mother. I played taxi driver for Mona and the wonderful ladies at Maple Ridge. They needed a van to transport some of the ladies and their walkers to Ramona's house for a garden tea party. It was wonderful. Ramona sat a beautiful table (wish I would of taken pictures) and Mel made a "to die for" caramel pumpkin spice cake. Yummmm!
Ramona shared her beautiful garden with us and I learned you can save geraniums thru the winter. I may have to try this.
So I wanted to give Ramona a little gift as a thank you for asking me to join them for tea. It wasn't much, just a card and a votive with flowers on it. She is so very sweet and she has raised a near perfect daughter, Mona, who is the dearest and best friend I could ever want. The Lord has blessed me richly with her friendship, spiritual guidance, prayer and unconditional acceptance, understanding and love. You don't get many friends like that in a life time but the Lord has blessed me richly.

Picture added

2009-09-21T22:42:00.001-05:00

I finally got my layout finished for the Freaky Friday challenge at AC Bailey. Scroll down to friday Sept. 18 and you'll see it there. Or click here. Have a good laugh at my hair style challenges and how the years can take their toll on all of us.

Treats for the Teacher

2009-09-20T15:10:00.001-05:00

Here are a few little treats I made for Erica's first day of teaching. Every teacher needs brand new #2 pencils and why not dress them up a bit with pretty paper and a ribbon with a flower on top.

This is a extra large binder clip I wrapped in coordinating paper and tied a few ribbons on the side to dress it up a bit. I found the picture and Teacher's Prayer on the internet and mounted them to matching paper also. (if you click on the picture it will enlarge it so you can read the Teachers Prayers)
And of course you need a cute note pad to write notes home to the parents about their little darlings and share what a wonderful day they had at school. Miss Taft loves her little 1st and 2nd graders and they love her so I'm sure the notes will always be pleasant.

Freaky Friday Challenge

2009-09-18T16:16:00.004-05:00

Over at AC Bailey we have a Freaky Friday Challenge each week. This week the challenge is die cut paper.
Use it as the base of your layout like cardstock, cut in half, do what ever you like. If you don't have a die cut paper - cut a shape out of cardstock, this would be a great way to use your Cricut. I love using the die cut shaped papers. Looking forward to seeing what unique way you use it. I'm hoping to have my layout done saturday and I'll post it then.
Happy Scrapping
** Sorry it's taken me so long. I had to go back thru a few years of pictures to find all of these. It starts with a picture of Roger and I at my Jr. Prom in '82 and the last picture is the 2 of us at our Tyler's wedding this past March.
I wanted to use some paper I had been hoarding and need to use to make room for more. I used Kraft paper as my back ground and cut my die cut paper and placed it on the edges with the scallops towards the center. It has pink around the edges of the scallops. I used pink, red & black buttons with red flowers. Red and pink aren't normal colors I would put together on a page but it worked.

I miss my little girl

2009-09-14T14:45:00.007-05:00

I miss my little girl. Ok, ok, my big girl. But I still miss her. She moved to Marshalltown Labor day weekend. She's a 1st and 2nd grade teacher. The christian school has only been going for 4 years and they are still growing. She loves her little class and they love her of course. She's teaching at the Marshalltown Christian School
She found the cutest little apartment in a very safe neighborhood. It's in a very nice residential area. We were so thankful that her Landlord is a christian too. The Lord has definitely went ahead of us on everything concerning this job and her move. He is a faithful and wonderful Lord.

There are no walls to separate the bedroom from the rest of the living space. Only half walls. But we hung curtains so she can close them and make them separate if she wants. With it being small it doesn't take much to keep it clean, but a few things left out make it look messy quick too. She has the tiniest stove I've ever seen. You can't even fit a regular pizza pan in it. But I don't think she'll be cooking very much. The picture you see above of the kitchen is it. There are no other walls in the kitchen. It's a Studio apartment, which sounds better than "efficiency". But it's very clean and will be oh so cute when she gets time to hang pictures and add her personal touch.

She has a small balcony that looks out over the tennis courts. We haven't seen the pool yet but that will be nice next summer. I don't think she's made it to the putting green yet either. The couch has a hide a bed in it so Tyler and Emma or we can stay when ever we want. Erica kept her job teaching at Huntington Learning Center on the weekends so she doesn't have much free time.